Mike Trades Jose Quintana to Keith for J.D. Martinez & Jason Kipnis

It is very important to understand how this league functions. Starting at the draft, every team drafts one - C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS and three - OF, SP. Then we reverse the draft order and draft a "backup" team. If your backup catcher has more points than your starting catcher, they automatically swap roster spots and your starting team gets the point differential.

During the year, all transactions must be position for position; so if you trade a catcher you have to get a catcher back in return, or if you drop a SS you have to pick up a SS eligible player. This league has been running since the early 90's so the rules are very old school fantasy baseball.

Accumulated points are transferred in trades and bonus moves, meaning if I drop a player with 100 points and add a player with 125 points, my team now has 25 more points.

Keith and I currently sit in 1st and 2nd place, separated by just 11 points. The 3rd place team is 103 points out of first, which is the same difference between 9th place and 3rd place. The league is tight, but we are starting to run away with things. With that in mind, we decided to help boost our chances of taking home the top two prizes come September.

Why Mike Did It:

The main player Keith wanted was Jose Quintana, who was hard for me to let go of. Quintana has been one of the best pitchers in baseball all year, but he is my fourth best pitcher and was not on my starting team at the time of the trade. I plan on having Chris Sale, Max Scherzer and Johnny Cueto on my starting team the rest of the season, which made trading Quintana a little easier.

I was able to upgrade at two positions that I was really hurting at - second base and outfield.

LeMahieu was my starting second basemen and had the least amount of points of any starting second basemen in the league. Acquiring Kipnis gives my team a 32 point boost, and currently a middle of the pack second basemen who should make his way towards the top of the position as the year goes on.

Last May, Kipnis hit .429 with a .511 OBP with 15 doubles, 3 triples, and 4 home runs with 17 RBI and a ridiculous 30 runs scored! So I know what this guy is capable of and there is literally no risk in this trade, so it's all reward.

I used my one bonus move for the month on Khris Davis to improve my struggling outfield, replacing an injured Angel Pagan. Looking back, I made a bad decision picking up Davis, as I should have just waited. I was suckered in by his 8 RBI in 3 games thanks to his 3 home run game. As of today, Davis is my 5th outfielder and Carlos Beltran has 22 more points.

In return I get a much better play in Martinez and an additional 26 points.

Martinez, who hit 38 home runs last season, started April off with just 3 homers. However, his power has returned in May, with 7 HRs, to give him 10 on the season.

Why Keith Did It:

I drafted Shelby Miller, Yu Darvish and Odorizzi as my bench rotation. Miller is terrible and was dropped for J.A. Happ, Darvish returns this weekend and Odorizzi will never make my starting team with just 135 points - having to pass Happ/Jon Lester, Zack Greinke and Stephen Strasburg. At 209 points, Quintana is now my #2 pitcher, moving Happ to my bench.

I did not want to trade Martinez, but this league will require you to move valuable pieces in order to get something back in return. Mike's biggest weakness is/was his OF, and I am the only team with three starting OFs with 200+ points in Mookie Betts, Gregory Polanco and Ian Desmond.

Martinez only gave Mike 20 points, so we added the swap of Kipnis and LeMahieu. I just need to pray that Jean Segura can continue to be a top 10 2B this year, even after getting hit in the head with a pitch. If I have to use a bonus move to add Brett Lawrie at some point, I will.